Hawaii is considering the offer it has received from Danish Company Alpha Wind Energy for installing the United States’ first ever offshore floating wind farm. This is $1,6 billion project that could enable the island of Oahu to make its own green energy.
The project involves installing over 100 floating wind turbines on the waters close to Oahu island. The wind turbines from Northern and Southern coast of Oahu could generate as much as 408 Megawatts, which would provide up to 30% of the energy required for the island.
This prospective is currently being discussed by authorities representing the Oahu island, the state of Hawaii and there is even federal implication on the matter, as there are many implications to the offshore wind farm project.
There is a great local tendency for converting to green sources of energy, as the island of Oahu has previously installed solar panels to many of its houses’ rooftops, and has many more green projects in plan for the near future, in order to fulfill its objective of becoming entirely green energy based by 2045.
“It is giving us the opportunity to think about the possibilities for Hawaii for offshore wind. The state has a big goal for renewable energy to go 100 percent by 2045. This is an alternative to land-based wind, an alternative for Hawaii to consider.” said Strategic Resources representative for the Pacific Region, Joan Barminkski, in an interview with PBN.
However, it has been recently been brought to the attention of authorities that there is one environmental aspect that would not be at all beneficial regarding the offshore floating wind farms.
It appears that these constructions have the capacity of killing very many birds that pass through the area where they are placed at the exact altitude where the turbines are rolling. And therefore, there is an animal protection aspect that needs to be researched further, as there is conflicting data on the matter.
The majority of scientists however seem to believe that various species of birds and bats do not hold a specific fly route that would maintain a specific flight altitude and thy are therefore in quite a lot of danger danger when flying close to these structures.
It remains to be seen if the offshore floating wind farm project will be put into practice, after the US authorities closely balance the beneficial and the detrimental aspects that surround it. By implementing it, the state of Hawaii would be one step closer to reaching its 2045 goal of functioning on green energy only.
Image Source: telegraph.co.uk
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